What's the deal with Game 2?

There is an existing thread for this already: http://www.hoops.com.au/forum/28429-youyi-games-telecast-times/

not for me.......is it free or do you have to sign up??

...awkward start

What's on the tourism sting?

WHAT'S ON THE TOURISM STING?

Not working for me but I am trying to get the steam from China. Have the local CCTV sport on TV and it says the game will start at 2.30 pm. Has the game started yet?

Games started yeah, sweet dunk by Baynes

OK time to get off here so I don't get spoilers and settle down to watch on half hour delay with Chinese comentators.

its not working :(

Working perfect for me in Melbourne...

up here in qld it ain't working !

Can anyone for the Boomers hit an open shot?

Can't buy a bucket?!?

it even looks ugly on Fiba Live Stats !!

This is terrible. For the love of basketball, can we please find someone who can shoot to play for the Boomers?

Refs are hopeless too. That huge Chinese guy is not only moving on every pick, he hangs his arm out to impede the player trying to go around him everytime too.

6 points by the Boomers in the second quarter? Really?

My favourite lineup so far has featured Crawford, Barlow, and Worth at the 2-3-4 spots. Solid defense and provides reliable offense. That was the lineup late in the first when the Boomers made a run.

skull. Can you post a link to live stats?

As for the bigs, they have looked awful. Khazzouh and Kickert have been hopeless and Baynes hasn't been much better. All have had clumsy moments.

http://www.fibalivestats.com/matches/13/05/65/20/77r5w7L2H1s/

I was not expecting a well oiled machine just yet, but you have to hit wide open shots at this level...

Boomers shooting at less than 27% from the floor...

Australia came back in the game again with the Crawf-Barlow-Wotho combination, along with Martin and Khazzouh, but then a string of bricks by Crawford and Barlow kept them from taking the lead. It seems to be Wortho who is keeping the Boomers in this.

A better quarter from the Aussies, but still nothing to get excited about. Wortho is looking good and Crawford at least looks like he can create a shot and make one. Need to get Khazzouh some more looks around the basket.

Khazzouh with the nice baseline move, then subbed out soon after. Thought he should have stayed in a bit longer as he is the only big on this team who is really a capable scorer in the post.

Nice to see Crawford spot up and make a couple. At least he looks like he BELIEVES he can make the three. Most of the other guys are just chucking it at the ring!

Agree Beantown. Crawford has the stroke and while he was not making them still had the confidence to keep taking the open looks. He got on a roll and blew the game open. He is the only guy we have capable of doing that on a regular basis.

Crawford getting hot. He started 1/8 for threes, now 5/12. He can shoot, but is he too much of a confidence shooter for what his role is likely to be in the final team? Good to see stand up to the task anyway.

RJD, well Crawf is no A Gaze, but he's the best we've got right now. I think tonight showed why he has to be on the Olympics roster.

I thought we turned it around once Wortho came back in and started pressuring them up the floor along with Delly and Gibbo. But we needed Crawf's shooting to finish the job with scores at the other end.

Would like to see Khazzouh given more time in this series for that reason - we have so little offensive firepower and he strikes me as one of the few guys in the mix who is a genuine scorer.

Anyone know why guys like Bose and Jawai don't appear to be getting a run in this series? It would be good to get another look at Bose and if Jawai wants to make the team he needs to log some time with them!

The best for me were Worthington (playing with intensity, disruptive D, solid O and led the team in rebounding) and Crawford with his late-game hot streak.

As for the other players who have realistic chances of making the team, none stood out much:
Barlow: ice-cold perimeter shooting, showed off some nice handles but not much else.
Delly: didn't feature much on the scoreboard, missing open shots, but had 7 boards, 3 assists, and looked comfortable running the team.
Gibson: apart from his good defense and a prayer 3, I didn't notice much of value in his team-high 31 minutes on court. He doesn't cut it at point at international level and his shooting inconsistency makes his value at the 2 equally weak. If he makes the team, I'll take it as combo guard insurance with experience playing under Brown's system.
Nielsen: played the complementary leadership role that he seems to play in Europe.
Baynes: playing the banger role that Brown likes from him, he seemed to reflect much of the team in lacking confidence and purpose, missing simple shots or fumbling the ball. I expect a much better game from him in game 2 as he seemed pick up late in the game.
Martin: falling out of favour with just 9 minutes on his home court. Due to injury?
Khazzouh: Came across as weak. 3 turnovers, 1 rebound in 15 minutes. A couple nice typical Khazzouh finishes around the basket though.

Others:
Kickert: cut him already.
Broekhoff: not much of a run, but would like to see what he can do.
Greenwood: DNP

Beantown, I agree with you with Crawford. I've been a supporter for his inclusion in the team, especially ahead of Gibson. Just his lack of confidence as a shooter at times concerns me. When he gets that confidence, he can be devastating, as we saw today. He theoretically provides what we need at that position -- good defense and a perimeter threat -- but is he ready mentally for the next level?

How good is this Chinese team? is it there B team? C team?

Im not going to look too much into this game to be honest, come game 3 we'll hopefully see alot more improvement.

Good questions RJD, but he's gonna have to be! There just seems to be noone else out there right now. Maybe guys like Drmic, Greenwood, Bose and Broekhoff will start to shine in a couple of years, but they don't appear ready yet.

About a year and a half ago I would have taken Martin over Gibson every time, but the last few times I have seen Martin for the Boomers he has just looked way to slow and out of his depth. I really hope Brown doesn't insist on taking BOTH Martin and Gibson like he did for the Worlds.

For me, Martin shouldn't go to the Olympics, but I would take Gibbo as a defensive specialist to harass opponents and try to take them out of their game. Mills, Delly and Crawford should play the bulk of the mins though IMO.

RJD, I didn't think Khazzouh got an opportunity to influence the game the way he can. His strength is not defence, its putting the ball in the basket. Didn't think he looked weak either. Did you see his seal of their big man right under the basket? Yeah he was called for 3 secs, but he held his position and scored easily.

Oh and anonymous.. you wanna send just Patty as our only PG or something? you rip on Gibson, talk crap about Delly(the guy got into foul trouble and saw limited minutes, in the 4th quarter the offense ran alot better with the ball in his hand). Martin didnt show anything more then any other guard out there to be honest.

It is most of their core group. The notable omission is Yi Jianlian.

...and doesn't Yi make the world of basketball shake in its boots!

At least it'll be China and not us propping up group B!

the players who will step up on the international stage- worthington,neilsen,crawford,barlow.

the boomers seemed to come out and shoot the 3 quick.

i suppose this olympics will be the same as any for the boomers......if they dont shoot the lights out they lose !

If only Irving would've stepped up for London :p

We are spoilt with the NBA so easy to watch now. It's so hard to watch the Boomers and NBL teams when I'm used to watching Boston's defence and their passing game over the past five seasons. Not to mention the way the Thunder are putting it together now. It makes you realise how ridiculous their skill level, attention to detail and athleticism actually is when you see mere mortals play the same game.

Was a pretty rusty game tonight, but hopefully the Boomers will start to get a bit more of a groove going over the next two games.

If only Kyrie Irving would suit up for the Boomers though! That would really be something to watch!

Re: "Delly's boards were good but struggled in every other area, PC and Gibson ahead of him on that performance. "

Delly is the only player that, when teamed up with Mills, should be the one playing point. With Mills strength being a scorer, I'm comfortable having a Mills-Delly backcourt with Delly running the offense, freeing up Mills to play to his strength. In that respect, Delly's position on the team, as a point guard, should be fairly secure IMO.

I don't see Martin nor Gibson play the point nearly as well. Brown gave Gibson plenty of time at the 2 during the Worlds, but surely Crawford will emerge as the better option at that position. Though unlike Crawford, Gibson and Martin can play either guard spot. That third point guard option has been seen to be valuable since Goorj was coach, so I'm afraid Gibson might get called up by default. His minutes today suggest so.

The spotlight during these warmup games surely has to be on Gibson vs Crawford vs Martin. Martin seems to be injured or out of favour, so we might end up with Gibson vs Crawford battling for a spot, if the decision hasn't already been determined by virtue of position.

I have been just as mystified as others about Kickert's selection and contribution in the past, but I actually think he didn't look too bad this time. He only played a few minutes, and made a couple of ok moves in the post. His finishing around the ring wasn't really any worse than the other bigs. Obviously he should never make the Boomers final 12 though.

I love him in the NBL but I don't think the Boomers can afford to take Damo. He is too much of an offensive liability.

Conversely he is pretty dodgy at times in the NBL but I don't think we can afford not to take PC along. It's sad state of affairs in aussie basketball, but he's probably the closest thing we've got to a 2-guard who can hit an outside shot right now.

iinet Freezone worked great for me.

Can CJ Bruton please return to the Boomers!!

I agree. Martin is as good as gone. The coaching staff appear to have little confidence in him and he as a result plays very tentatively. Of course you know what you will get at the other end from him but against the stars internationally he is no lock down defender and others can almost do the same job.

Yes, the team doesn't excite me much.

Who can create their own shot? (Only Mills and possibly Ingles)

Who is a reliable and consistent scorer? (Mills?)

Who is a consistent perimeter shooter? (Nobody really)

Who is going to consistently give you 6+ boards every game? (Only possibly Maric, if health and minutes and lack of foul trouble favour him)

Who can you count on the distribute the ball? (Delly is still young, Mills is an erratic distributor)

Who is going to come on and always will provide hustle? (Delly, Wortho, that's it)

Who is capable of igniting and taking over a game? (Perhaps Mills, nobody else)

Which role players have the capacity to step up and produce big one night? (Wortho, anyone else?)

Who is clutch? (Mills, barely)

Bogut would have given us a lot more hope, but as it stands, a top 8 finish would be a good result. If this was the Worlds, a top 10 result would be good for them.

this is where the lack of development of ingles and newley has really heart the team. When they first burst onto the scene we all thought with natural progression they would be beginning to enter their prime right now.However neither have developed a consistent perimeter shot.

rjd: Anderson can create his own shot in the post, he finds ways to score, but not big points. Doesn't rebound much though, maric, baynes and neilsen will have to be the bangers. Your right to point out that apart from Mills there isn't really any big scorers

Since gaze etc retired we have struggled to score, will have to out hussle and defend really well. But even then... Top 8 would be good result

Des, the 'since Gaze retired we have struggled to score' comment isnt backed by the facts. We went up and down with Gaze and have done so since.

96 - 89
98 - 74.9
00 - 74.5
04 - 80.2
06 - 73.8
08 - 90.3
10 - 73.2

Scoring is as much about system as it is about talent. The Tall Blacks averaged 80 in 2010 because they had a system that utilised their strengths very well. Lithuania didnt have a heap of offensive talent but generated scores (82.9ppg) through their disruptive defence.

For me the story about Saturday's game was not looking at individuals, it was a defensive style that disrupted China (a methodical half court team) pretty well, and an offensive system that seemed non-existent.

Where were the on-ball screens? Where were the releases for entry passes into the offence? Where was the zone offence? Where was the action off the post feed? I didnt expect it to be slick but there didnt appear to be any structure. Hopefully that's fixed by Weds.

In terms of individuals, I look at who did the things well theyll be needed to do in London. There were three guys who did that for mine:

PC - obviously hit threes, big night for his chances. Rest of his game was mostly solid too, coupla drive and coupla steals.

Wortho - hustle, traps and boards. Big tick

Gibbo - no turnovers, 2/3 triples, great D on Wang at SG. Those are his non-negotiables from BBs point of view.

All great points Paul, agree completely, particularly with regard to the offense.

Brown has expressed before that the boomers strength isn't offense but their disruptive defence, but hopefully that attitude allows for offensive structure to develop..watching the most successful half-court NBA teams offense is impressive with the amount of off-ball movement from a number of screens (on-ball) and down screens in one offensive set to have a lane open up and player roll to the hope for easy lay-up or dunk or to free up a mid-range jumpshot

I think I'd better start talking to the man upstairs, because we're going to need his help to make the final 8 at the Olympics based on what the wanna-be-Boomers have showed to date.

As enough of you have said, it's unbelievable that only one guy on the team can shoot threes, and he's not even certain of being included in the 12.

I know there's a big focus on going inside and we have some pretty good bigs, but ... you need the balance. Outside shooters pull defences apart to give the bigs some gaps to work in. Jeez.

Based on this series, I reckon we might as well chuck in the youngsters right now, and start building for the future.

Are our bigs really so good? Without Bogut we have:

Maric: struggled since his injury after his breakout season a couple years back; rarely plays more than 15 minutes; at his best in Europe, was a role-playing impact big who could score and rebound well in bursts, but wasn't relied upon (lack of conditioning? other talented bigs on the team?) to play big minutes.

Andersen: having a good, consistent season in Italy, but excels as a complimentary player (he lacks rebounding ability and is not a defensive presence); has some nice post moves, a nice outside stroke, and we will rely on him a lot for scoring, something that he has struggled to do consistently in a Boomers uniform.

Baynes: had a great season in Greece, albeit in a seemingly hugely diminished league; despite strong form in Greece and an important role on the current team, he has hardly excelled so far against a relatively weak Chinese frontline; can he be anything more than a role-playing banger?

Jawai: Will he even enter the squad? Probably will contest Baynes for a spot if he does. Form was decent for Unics.

Nielsen: Is nothing more than a role-player at this stage of his career; will help with leadership, but doesn't fill up the stats sheet anymore; on the court, will he be anything more than just a backup for Andersen?

If Bogut was there, we'd have a true big who can rebound, score and hold down the middle defensively, with some decent role-playing sidekicks to help him out. Without Bogut, I don't think our frontcourt looks so strong.